The Fourth of July, or as it is often called “Independence Day,” is a national holiday celebrated by the majority of Americans. Ask anyone on the street and they will tell you the day is marked by parades, picnics, and pyrotechnics (a display of fireworks).
How many Americans know why July 4th is so important in the history of our nation?
When I was a kid growing up, about third grade, there was a bully that used to follow me to school. He would threaten to beat me up if I didn’t surrender my milk money for the day. The same thing happened to Opie Taylor on the Andy Griffith show in one episode. Like Opie the threats and surrender of the precious nickle for milk didn’t stop until we stood up to the bully and duked it out with him. Maybe you can recall a similar story in your life.
Imagine how you would have felt if someone was always taking your milk money, allowance, social security check or whatever. That’s how the colonist in early America felt before 1776. Great Britain was stealing their “milk money” in the form of higher taxes and more rules. Tempers flared and the American colonists said, “Enough is enough, we will make our own taxes and rules!” In no uncertain terms the early Americans told Great Britain they were becoming an independent country. To be independent means to take care of yourself, make your own rules and provide for your own needs.
The Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and appointed a group for a specific task to write a formal document that would send the message to great Britain that the Americans had decided to govern themselves. Thomas Jefferson was asked to write a draft of the document. He worked for days in absolute secret until he had written the document with everything in it important that the committee had discussed. On June 28, 1776 the committee members met to read Jefferson;s work. They revised the work and declared their independence on July 2, 1776 and officially adopted the document now called “The Declaration of Independence” on July 4, 1776. Ever since that day, July 4th, has been refered to as “Independence Day.”
The Declaration of Independence is more than just a piece of paper. It is a symbol of our country’s commitment to independence and to certain ideas. A symbol is something that stands for something else. Most people can look at a certain little “swoosh” and know that it stands for “Nike.” This was the intention of those that signed the Declaration of Independence, the document would forever stand for America! All generations of America have sought to preserve the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution which would come later on in 1787. Americans in every age since 1776 have given their lives to protect the truths of the Declaration of Independence. That is why we celebrate on July 4th, to forever remember and honor all who have made this important historical documen
st. james plaindealer —
